


Operation: Wine Night

by girlygirl14534



Series: The Adventures of Amy [28]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpine - Freeform, Alpine the Cat, Bucky Barnes Gets a Hug, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M, Multi, Wine Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:09:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlygirl14534/pseuds/girlygirl14534
Summary: “be easy. take your time. you are coming home. to yourself. — the becoming”― Nayyirah Waheed, nejma
Relationships: Alpine & James "Bucky" Barnes, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Reader
Series: The Adventures of Amy [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903927
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Operation: Wine Night

You studied the flowers on Bucky’s ceiling, wondering if blossoms ever randomly fell on him while he was sleeping. You bet he’d look angelic—his peaceful sleeping face, hair fanned out on the pillow, surrounded by pink and purple blossoms—you’d have to get Steve to paint you a picture. Your phone buzzed repeatedly on the nightstand and you wriggled out of Steve’s koala embrace to get it, trying not to disturb your sleeping boyfriends. It was the group chat with all your Friendsgiving friends. Brandon wanted to host a Bachelor viewing party at his place when it premiered. Everyone loved the idea so much that other people had started offering to host parties on other days throughout the season. Liv had already texted you privately to see if you would be down to host and you told her you were. You knew Sam was a fan of the show and you would definitely invite him to your night. You didn’t even like the show, but you were already so excited for these viewing parties! You were so busy looking for rose-themed hors d'oeuvres on Pinterest that you didn’t notice Bucky stirring next to you. 

“What’s got you smiling at your phone like that? Is it the picture I sent you last time I was away?” he smirked. 

You almost moaned thinking of that sinful photo. “Sweetheart, if I was looking at that photo I would have woken you up a _long_ time ago.” 

“I can’t believe you’re up before me again,” he said. “Maybe I really _am_ losing my edge.” 

“I like the Bucky that sleeps in.” You kissed his nose and watched his cheeks turn pink. “There’s nothing sexier than a well-rested boyfriend.” 

He chuckled softly. “Well, if you weren’t looking at pictures of your sexy boyfriend, what were you doing?”

“Brandon wants to start doing Bachelor watch parties.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Sam forces me to watch the Bachelor with him sometimes.”

“As you know, I prefer Love Island, but we’re all going to take turns hosting, which is always fun.” 

“‘All’?”

“Yeah, the usual crew...” You rattled off the group message members. 

“That’s a lot of people.” You couldn’t quite place the tone in his voice, and his words confused you. There were way more superheroes in the world than there were people that you called your friends. Considering his close relationships with his fellow Avengers, you wouldn’t think that ten people would seem like a lot to him. 

“I’m very fortunate to have found a group of individuals that value a themed event as much as I do. “

“The Bachelor event does sound fun.” He almost sounded sad, but you barely had time to process before he continued, “Know what else is fun?” You couldn’t mistake the mischief in his voice. 

You played dumb. “No.” His hand traveled up your thigh. You pushed it off and grabbed one of Steve’s arms, draping it across your torso to act as a horniness barrier. “If Steve’s still asleep, then it’s too early for me to be doing anything.”

“No fair! He always sleeps in when he’s over here!” It was true. Something about sleeping in Bucky’s bed always knocked Steve out. 

“You got me there. This mattress is just so darn comfortable.” 

He leaned forward and kissed you deeply. You gently ended the kiss, settling back against Steve, but Bucky wasn’t satisfied. His hands were still searching for something, but you weren’t sure what. 

“What has gotten into you this morning?” you asked.

“Can’t I want my girlfriend?”

“Yes, but something’s off. What is it?” 

You could see him retreat into himself. The only time you saw him this closed-off was before missions. The change was subtle and hard to define, but you felt it when it happened: Bucky was locking you out. 

“Nothing,” he responded. 

“Bucky.”

He looked you in the eyes. Did he think you couldn’t tell? 

“It’s honestly nothing,” he said. “I think I’ll go to the gym.” He got off the bed and went to his wardrobe, throwing on athletic attire. 

“Bucky, wait!” you said as he started to leave the bedroom. 

“Amy, it’s fine. Stop worrying,” he called over his shoulder as he walked through the door. 

You slowly and ungracefully slid out of his absurdly tall bed so that you could follow him into the living room. You caught him with his hand on the front door handle. You went for a bit of humor: a good, old-fashioned scolding. 

“James Buchanan Barnes! I am naked and running after a man! The indignity! Face me at once!” When he turned to face you, a smile quirked at his lips. He gave you a kiss. You searched his face. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing—” He caught the look you gave him and changed his tone. He sighed. “I don’t know. But I’ll probably go to the gym and take the rest of the day to figure it out. Have fun planning your party.” 

You gave him one last kiss and let him go. You walked slowly back to the bedroom, processing. You stood at the bedside, wondering if you should invest in a pole vault, when a groggy Steve grabbed you and effortlessly pulled you back into bed. 

“What’s going on?” his sleepy voice murmured into your bonnet. 

“I’m not sure,” you said. “How often do you and Bucky hang out separately with friends in a non-work-related capacity?”

“I go to Tony’s for dinner sometimes and runs with Sam. Bucky and Sam like to play videogames. And he’s been hanging out with Carol a lot recently. Why do you ask?” 

“He was upset about something this morning but wouldn’t tell me what. I think it has something to do with me planning events with my friends.”

“You think he’s lonely?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe he just needs more social events?” You thought about it for a moment. You came up with the perfect idea. “We are going to plan a wine night with his friends. Tonight.” 

“Wine is going to fix whatever’s wrong with him?” 

You rolled your eyes. “It’s not about the wine. It’s about connecting with your friends and having fun. Away from your significant others.” 

“Who would ever want to be away from us?” Steve wore one of his slow, easy, morning smiles. He was so cute with his mussed up hair.

You laughed. “In all seriousness, I think he wants some space today. Let’s shower here and then go back to your place and plot over breakfast.” 

“What do you have against _my_ shower? I got rid of the 15-in-1!” 

“And I am so, _so_ proud of you for weaning down to a 3-in-1.” You patted his arm patronizingly as you went to the bathroom. He sighed but followed you. 

…

You set down your orange juice and clapped your hands. “Okay. Operation: Wine Night. Phase 1: Guest list. Sam, obviously. Nat, Carol. Who else?”

“Rocket and Loki helped him sabotage our first date.” 

“Partners in crime. Got it. And we can’t forget Shuri and Okoye.” 

“The only problem is that some of the people we’ve named aren’t even in New York right now. Maybe not even on the planet.” 

You thought it over for a moment before remembering a certain party trick on Halloween. “I’ll just pop over to Stephen’s and ask him to make a portal.” 

“I don’t think he makes portals on demand like that.”

“He will.” You poked Steve in the (very solid) chest for emphasis because you meant business. “Our baby needs a wine night.” 

Steve nodded, happy to take any orders you gave as you set about figuring out the menu, location, and time. He loved watching you work. He loved how hard you loved. How determined and stubborn you were. It didn’t matter where in the universe tonight’s guests were: you would have them there. He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised when you created a group text for the attendees and everyone responded enthusiastically. He also shouldn’t have been surprised when you left with a bottle of Asgardian wine and returned with Strange’s promise to make portals for your guests with longer commutes. He watched bemusedly as you gave Loki a lecture about being on his best behavior. Even though he was skeptical of any promises Loki made, he was surprised to see something like sincerity cross Loki’s features when you made him vow to behave. Steve wasn’t surprised that Sam offered his apartment for the night, but was surprised that Sam agreed to let you do a walkthrough to “get a feel for the space”. Sam refused to move so much as a stack of coasters to improve the flow of the room and kicked you out after arguing for five minutes about seating. You agreed on a time to drop off the charcuterie board and it was decided that Sam would text Bucky later and ask him to drop by. 

...

“I hope he likes tonight,” you said after all the planning was done. 

“Me too. You’re right about spending time apart from significant others. I think it’s harder for him because he doesn’t feel like a full member of the Avengers. The first time he fought with us was during a civil war.” 

“Well, thank God the war’s over.” 

“Yeah,” Steve said thoughtfully, as if the idea that the war was over had never occurred to him. 

“What? Is there a war you’re fighting right now that I don’t know about?”

“There’s always a bad guy. Always some evil plan to foil. We defeated Thanos, and I thought that maybe things would calm down enough that...but now HYDRA’s back...” 

“And why is getting rid of HYDRA _your_ job?”

“It just is. Especially in light of recent events. And now it’s Bucky’s job, too. I dragged him into this Avengers stuff because I thought being part of a team again would be good for him. But maybe it’s just been making us unhappy.” He said the last part quietly. 

“You’re unhappy?” 

“I don’t know. I still like it. It just gets tiring after a while. I’m tired of chopping heads off of this monster, but I know that if I wasn’t there and something happened, I would blame myself. Sometimes I just wanna run away. Somewhere they can’t reach me. And live out my days as a one-armed goat farmer in Wakanda or something.” 

“What is the Steve Rogers equivalent of being a one-armed goat farmer in Wakanda?” 

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I’ve never thought about it.” 

He laid on the couch, head on your lap. You ran your fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes. 

“That’s ok,” you said. “We’ll brainstorm. I can set up your coffee blog.” 

He chuckled lightly. “I could also start up that cafe. You and Bucky can be my taste-testers!” 

“Gladly. And you should make all your drinks shirtless. That should be your gimmick.” 

Steve gave you a look. “Seriously?”

“What?! I’m just suggesting that you give the people what they want! Sexy barista Steve! You can still wear the apron if you want. Oh! Maybe just the apron? Hmm.”

“I don’t know about the general public, but I might not mind cooking for you and Bucky like that.”

“Yes! Steve! You _HAVE_ to!” 

“I’m going to regret saying that,” he laughed. 

“Since we’re making food for others, I’ll let you keep your clothes on as we make the snacks for tonight.” 

“Gee, thanks,” Steve said. 

“Any time.” You kissed his cheek. 

…

“Steve, come _on_! We were supposed to deliver it ten minutes ago!”

“Okay! I got it!”

“Careful!”

“I think I can handle it.”

You opened the door for him, checking the hallway for Bucky before calling the elevator. When it arrived empty, you waved Steve over. As he was walking, he pretended to trip, threatening to dump the food that you had spent the last hour carefully arranging onto the floor. 

“Woah!” he said, moving the tray side to side without shifting anything (but still freaking you out). 

“Steve! If you drop that, I will divorce you!”

“Well, considering we aren’t married yet, I think I’ll take my chances.” He dipped the board again as he finally got into the elevator. 

You put on your best fake-menacing voice, pointing a finger at him. “This is the long game. I’ll marry you and we’ll be happily married for years, when one day—Bam!—divorce papers. You’ll say ‘No Amy! Why!’ And I’ll say, ‘Remember when you dropped my charcuterie board?’” 

You both laughed and this time a fig actually did fall off the board and onto the floor. 

“Steve!” you scolded, causing both of you to laugh harder. 

You arrived at Sam’s floor in a fit of giggles. You had kickstarted a silly mood in the both of you. 

Steve said, “Delivery!” in a loud and silly voice, getting you both laughing again. Some almonds threatened to shimmy off of the board. 

When Sam let you in and the board had been successfully placed on the table with no further casualties, Steve cheered. 

“I didn’t drop it! You know what that means?” 

“That you can follow basic directions?” 

“It means,” he said, grabbing you and pulling you into his arms, “that you and I will have a long and happy marriage.” He leaned down and gave you a kiss. 

“Can you do that literally anywhere else?” Sam asked. 

“Sorry, Sam,” you said. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes. And I see you eyeing my sofa. The flow is fine. Get out.” 

He shooed you out of his apartment and you got into the elevator, spotting the fig from earlier and laughing again. You picked it up, carefully placing it into Steve’s palm. “Keep this as a reminder of this day,” you said in an ominous voice. You promptly ruined the effect by starting up the giggling all over again. 

You went back to Steve’s place where you enjoyed some leftover snacks and Steve got into some Asgardian mead. You checked your watch. Bucky should’ve arrived at Sam’s 20 minutes ago. 

“He’s having a good time. I can feel it,” you said to Steve. 

“That’s good,” he said. “But CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT?” he sang at the top of his lungs. The mead had definitely kicked in. Before you knew it, he was twirling you around the living room, singing at the top of his lungs. He didn’t know most of the words, so he made them up. 

He stopped suddenly. “I have the best idea! Let’s prank Tony!”

“What?” 

“Let’s order him a pizza! And then when he opens it, it’ll be covered in pineapples and anchovies!”

“Wowww, that’s really diabolical, Steve,” you said sarcastically, even as you got out your phone to order the blasphemous pie. Bucky would die if he knew you ordered this pizza, even as a joke. You wrote that the delivery note should read: From the Strongest Avenger and her slightly-less-strong boyfriend. 

“Hey!” Steve said when he read the delivery instructions over your shoulder. 

He tried to grab the phone from you but you wrestled him—he was drunk and you used Nat’s tactics on him (and, let’s be honest, he let you win) until he yielded, acknowledging your superior strength. 

Tony Facetimed you a few minutes after the pizza was delivered, thanking you for the pizza and taking a huge bite, trying not to grimace as he chewed. He swallowed laboriously and made a triumphant face to the camera. However he gagged over his second bite and promptly ended the call. You could hear Pepper laughing in the background as he hung up. 

Steve was in stitches and couldn’t wait to do another prank. You sat down to figure out his next victim. 

“Nat’s unprankable,” Steve said. You weren’t too sure. 

“Her apartment is so hard to get into that if we could get in without setting off any alarms and move a pillow an inch to the left it would bother her for weeks.” 

“Let’s put a pizza in her apartment!”

“What is it with you and pizza tonight?” 

“I’m kinda hungry,” he admitted. 

“Alright. We’ll order a sausage mushroom for you, a veggie for me, and for Nat? I can’t let you order another pineapple anchovy pizza.” 

“Fine. Just plain cheese.” 

You laughed. “Got it.” 

“Get another one. I wanna find a way to prank Sam too.” 

You ordered the second cheese pizza, starting to fear that you were creating a monster. After the pizzas arrived, you texted Wanda and she met you in the stairwell near Nat’s. You had her use her powers to create a visual illusion that Nat’s apartment was empty and undisturbed. That way she was able to float the pizza through the door and onto the counter without being picked up by cameras or motion sensors. Wanda slowly dropped away the illusion so that Nat would see the pizza on the counter when she walked in. Your work there was done. You thanked Wanda for her help. All she asked for in return was a slice of Steve’s pizza, which he happily gave to her, ecstatic to find someone who shared his pizza preferences. 

When you were back alone at Steve’s, you got a message from Sam: 

**captain_falcon** : Everything is going well. We’re headed to the entertaining floor. Rocket suggested a game of pool. Stupid rat thinks he can beat me! 

**bookstorebabe14534** : Glad to hear it. Thanks again. And have fun! Don’t let Rocket hustle my man out of his arm! 

**captain_falcon** : No problem. And no promises. Whatever Bucky bets is his business. 

“Everything’s going well,” you informed Steve. “Sam said they’re all headed to the entertaining floor to play pool.” 

“So, what I’m hearing is: Sam’s apartment is currently empty,” Steve said over a mouthful of pizza. “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to get him back for the I Love You Dinner song choice fiasco.” 

“What are you gonna do? Rick roll him back? Have his TV come on in the middle of the night and blare the music video like he’s being haunted by a ghost with a middle schooler’s sense of humor?”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Uh-oh. You saw the gears in his head turning. “Only it’ll be more than just his TV. We can put sensors everywhere—fridge, cabinet, windowsill—when he trips one of them, the song will blast out of the speakers.” 

“Now that is evil. And kind of brilliant.” 

“I have 82 sensors. Let’s go!” 

“That’s a lot of sensors. We’re not going to use—”

“All of them!” he said giddily. 

Sam’s apartment was a lot easier to get into than Nat’s. You installed sensors in his spice cabinet, an old pair of shoes in his closet, even in his wine rack. And you couldn’t forget Steve’s signature: the pizza on the kitchen counter that would trigger the first rick roll of many for Sam Wilson. You almost felt bad for the guy. Almost. 

When you were leaving, you accidentally set off the one you had placed under the doormat and you booked it out of there, glad no one was around to hear. The music reverberated through the hallway. You felt bad for his neighbors. You and Steve didn’t stop running until you were inside of his apartment, where you collapsed into a pile of giggles just inside the door. 

You lay on the ground next to each other, catching your breath. 

“God, I needed that,” Steve said after a while. 

You just looked at him and he spilled: he never let his hair down like that around the team, and it felt good. To show them he wasn’t an uptight old man who was a stickler for the rules. He was young and playful, too. He sometimes felt that spontaneity and silliness were luxuries, but in a post-Thanos world, he was ready to splurge. He confessed that he admired how much everyone else’s living space represented them and he lamented that he hadn’t bothered to make any meaningful changes to his apartment. 

“Alright, so let’s do something about that. Do you have a sledgehammer? We can knock down a wall. Or we can go to the hardware store and get you some new light fixtures. We could paint—” 

“Paint.” He looked around at the white walls pensively. “I wanna put a mural in here. Something that symbolizes me. Says that this is my space.” He took another sip of mead. 

He grabbed a pen and paper. “You’re the literary expert—what symbolizes me?” 

“It might be kind of cheesy, but I think of you as an ice phoenix—instead of rising from the ashes, you rose from the snow.” 

Steve sketched intently, beautifully interpreting the symbol and ordering supplies from FRIDAY. You washed the wall while you waited for everything to arrive. When he was satisfied with his sketch, he used a machine to capture the design and project it onto the wall, taking up a large portion of it. He stepped back to admire the outline. It looked good! 

He had just finished painting the background when you yawned from the couch. He decided to call it a night. He closed the paint and picked you up, carrying you into the bedroom and leaving the drop cloth, ladder, and paint cans right where they were in the living room. 

…

The next morning, you woke up to Bucky knocking on Steve’s bedroom door. He had a tray with fresh muffins, coffee for Steve, and tea for you. He breathed a sigh of relief when you greeted him with a smile and waved him over. He sat on the bed and set the tray down. Steve tasted his coffee. 

“Not bad,” he said with a smile. 

“I’m sorry I was being a brat yesterday,” Bucky said. “That’s Amy’s job.” 

You shoved him. “Hey!” you laughed. 

“Seriously. Sorry I was being weird. I’m still finding a balance in my life, especially since I’m dating my best friends. I hang out with Sam and Carol sometimes, but Amy when you were talking about your Bachelor night, I was kind of jealous, to be honest.” He looked down, hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. 

“Bucky. You freshly baked THREE different types of muffins. Your sins are atoned for.” 

He didn’t look convinced. 

“Hey,” you said, getting him to look at you, “you learned that you need to hang out with your friends more often. Good lesson, and something that’s easy to implement. Especially if you bribe Dr. Strange with Asgardian wine. Now tell us about your night. Did you have a good time?” 

“Yeah,” he grinned. “When I first walked in, the whole night had your name all over it. At first I felt bad that my girlfriend had to round people up to hang out with me—don’t even start,” he said, keeping you from interrupting him. “We all know that you wouldn’t have taken no for an answer from any of them.” 

“Yeah, but I didn’t _have_ to convince any of them. I just said, ‘Hey, I was thinking you could come hang out with Bucky,’ and ‘Say no more. I’m there,’ was everyone’s response.” 

He blushed. “It felt really good to hang out with everyone. I felt normal, somehow. Sitting there with my metal arm, drinking alcohol from another planet, talking to a raccoon and a trickster god and a girl who glows, I felt like a regular guy, just hanging out with his friends. I was happy. And I was even happier when I remembered that I got to come home to my wonderful partners, who apparently got into a lot of trouble while I was gone. Including living room renovations?” 

“And breaking and entering,” Nat’s voice came from the doorway. 

_When did she get here?!_

“Morning, Nat!” Steve said cheerily. “Did you enjoy the pizza?” Steve was so proud of himself. 

“How did you get in?” 

“You left the door open,” you shrugged, driving her crazy. 

Before she could say anything else, Sam burst in. 

“HOW MANY OF THESE FREAKING THINGS”—he threw a sensor on the bed—“DID YOU PUT IN MY APARTMENT?!” 

“Sam, it’s a compliment,” Steve explained. “A wise man once said that Never Gonna Give You Up is the greatest love song of our time.” Steve wore a smug grin. 

Sam stormed out and Nat followed, backing out of the room with narrowed eyes. Bucky looked curiously at you and Steve. 

“We’re definitely having five Louises,” Bucky said to you. 

“What?” Steve asked. 

“Bucky thinks all five of our children are going to have your capacity for mischief.” 

Steve grinned. “That’s gonna be fun. And, by the way, it’s _our_ capacity for mischief. You’re the one who suggested rickrolling Sam, I’m just the one who had the technology to make it happen.”

Bucky looked at you in surprise. 

“It was just a suggestion! A joke, really.” 

Bucky shook his head at you. “I leave you two alone for _one_ night...” he laughed. 

You spent the rest of the morning eating muffins and updating each other on the previous day’s shenanigans. 

…

Over the next several days, Bucky made a few changes. He installed a stepladder by his bedside so you could finally get in and out of his bed easily. 

One day he accompanied Sam on a barbershop visit and came back with a fresh haircut. It was longer than it had been in the 40s, but the shortest it had been in a while. He looked _good_. He walked into Steve’s one day like everything was normal and it took the two of you a few seconds to process the change. 

“Do you like it?” he asked, running a nervous hand through his hair, still unused to the length. He fidgeted under the gaze of your open-mouthed stares.

You both walked over to him, running your fingers through his hair. 

“I love it, Buck,” Steve said. 

“You look amazing, baby.” 

“Really?”

“Really.”

You and Steve were sure to show him just how handsome he really looked. 

… 

One day you were eating breakfast and appraising Steve’s mural progress when Bucky blurted out that he had something to ask. You looked at him curiously. 

“Amy, have you learned to love cats yet?”

You were surprised by the question. “Maybe. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve been thinking that I want to get one. Now.” 

“I don’t know, Buck,” Steve said. “Maybe we should wait until we’re not doing so many missions.”

“Nat makes it work,” Bucky countered. 

“Nat has a cat?!”

“Yeah, Liho,” you said. “She’s really sweet.” 

Steve looked like he was re-evaluating his entire life. He didn’t know if he was more shocked that Nat had a secret pet or that you and Bucky knew about it before he did. 

“Bucky, if you want a cat, I’ll support you,” you said. 

“Me too,” said Steve. 

“Really?!” he grinned. 

“Really,” you confirmed. “My only rule is no cat in the bedroom.”

“Deal.” 

The very next day, Bucky dragged you and Steve to a shelter. Steve got distracted by the puppies and insisted on getting in a playpen with five of them. You and Bucky couldn’t resist joining Steve with the puppies. They climbed all over you, licking your faces and nuzzling into you. 

“Whenever we get our farmhouse, I’m adopting 10 puppies!” Steve giggled as he was overrun by cuteness. 

A family arrived to look at puppies, which is what finally pried the three of you away so you could actually look for a cat. 

“I don’t want a kitten,” Bucky told the shelter employee. “Preferably a cat that’s been here a while? Needs a good home?” 

You were led to the adult cat section and the three of you perused the kennels. You all split up, pointing out cats you liked for the approval of the other two. Even though it would technically be Bucky’s cat, it was important to him that the decision be unanimous. 

You had never been a cat person and weren’t quite sure how to connect with a cat. When you walked up to each cage, some were shy, some were curious, and some ignored you. You weren’t sure how you were supposed to know if a cat would be the right fit. You had to admit that a lot of the cats were cute, but you wanted to make sure Bucky got a cat that was really sweet and cuddly. You were beginning to think that you wouldn’t find a cat as you neared the end of the hallway. 

You were running out of options when you saw her: a beautiful cat with short white fur. She was watching you from the back of her cage, making no move to greet you. You might’ve taken this as cats’ trademark aloofness, but her watchful gaze was curious—she wanted to see what you would do. You checked the label. Mittens. What a generic name. She was around 5 years old. She had been here for over a year! No wonder she wasn’t eager to come up to you. You wondered what she had been like in her first few days here. She had probably been full of hope and energy before all of the repeated rejections and getting shuffled closer and closer to the end of the hallway. 

“Hi,” you said softly. You felt a little silly talking to her, but you didn’t know what else to do. You introduced yourself. “I’m Amy.” 

She tilted her head. 

“I see they’ve named you Mittens.” She just stared at you. “Don't worry,” you said, “we’ll get you a much better name. Unless, of course, you like the name Mittens. It could be kind of ironic...” You were really just babbling now. She cautiously walked to the front of the cage so that her face rested against the bars. You could see now that she had stunning light blue eyes. You put the back of your hand against the cage and she sniffed it. Her whiskers tickled your hand and you giggled. She nuzzled against your hand as much as she could through the bars. You figured that was a good sign. 

You asked if you could see her and the employee opened the cage. You tentatively held a hand out, hoping she didn’t scratch you. Quite the opposite. She rubbed her head against your hand and you took that as an invitation to pet her. She was very soft. She closed her eyes and purred as you stroked her. She eventually let you hold her in your arms. The boys walked up. She looked at them warily but went back to rest when they softly spoke to her and stroked her. She leapt onto Bucky, climbing onto his shoulders and resting there. 

“I think she’s the one,” Bucky said. You and Steve agreed. 

When you took her home, you saw that Bucky had made his apartment a lot more cat-friendly. He even had a fun little obstacle course for her to play on and lots of cozy nooks for her to curl up in. It was so cute watching him carry her around his apartment and give her a tour of the space. 

“Have you decided on a name yet?” you asked Bucky as she roamed the apartment, taking stock of her new home, ending up sunning on a cat hammock hanging by a large window. 

“Remember our first date with the three of us?”

“The picnic,” Steve said. 

“Yeah. Steve and I found the perfect spot for a picnic where we wouldn’t be bothered,” he explained to you. “And we liked you so much that we didn’t even care that it was in New Jersey.” 

Steve laughed. It was so funny to hear their side of that story. 

“The town that park is located in is called Alpine. I thought back then that it would be the perfect name for a cat.” 

“Alpine,” you tested the name out on your tongue. “I love it.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I planned to put Alpine in the series from the beginning, but when I was looking up trails near New York City for the picnic, I found Palisades Interstate Park, which was the perfect setting for the picnic, and also happens to be in Alpine, New Jersey! Total, beautiful coincidence! I’ve been waiting to introduce Alpine since Prayer’s Effect, so I’m glad she’s finally here!


End file.
